Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Raises Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 306.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,947 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Ecolab were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,106,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,569. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $254.86 and its 200 day moving average is $250.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $71.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.